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ACE Update – January 2018

Dear Ace Colleagues,

Recognition. Who do you know deserves acknowledgement for their contributions to our profession?

ACE presents several honors each year, giving you an opportunity to shine a light on coworkers at various stages in their career.

Consider submitting nominations to the following awards by March 1:

  • Pioneer Awards – honor members who demonstrate exceptional leadership and technical skills and make significant contributions to ACE during their early careers (first 10 years of ACE membership). Find the nomination form here.
  • Reuben Brigham Award – recognizes an individual outside of ACE for his or her contribution to communication or technology in agriculture, natural resources, and life and human sciences. Often, the conference planning committee recommends a deserving recipient, but anyone can make a nomination.
Don’t forget about recognizing yourself! The deadline for submitting to the Critique and Awards program is Friday, February 2. These awards are for specific efforts produced by ACE members. They are judged by external volunteers. Even if you don’t get an award this year, you will learn from the comments that the judges provide. Learn more about C&A.


Suzanne Steel
, ACE President


Reminder: ACE Critique & Awards Competition Wraps Up This Friday, February 2


Don’t miss your chance to earn much-deserved recognition for your best projects of 2017. Enter your best work in the ACE Critique & Awards competition!

Remember that all entries must be submitted electronically this year, either as a digital file or as a link to a web site or file-sharing service.

Please pay careful attention to the Diversity Category. The Diversity Learning Community has put a great deal of thought and work into clarifying the class descriptions in this category, to make it easier for you to write up your entry and easier for the judges to critique the entries fairly in judging this important aspect of our communications work. Thanks to the Diversity LC for their work on this!

If you have any questions, please let me or ACE Executive Director Holly Young know.

Remember, get your entries turned in by midnight, Friday, February 2!

Elizabeth Gregory North
, ACE President-Elect

ACE’s New Management Partner: Celtic Associations

ACE’s new association management partner will be Celtic Associations, based in Chicago. After a process that began with research into ACE’s management history and needs; continued with a very thorough and carefully crafted request for proposals, an intense review of more than 20 very strong proposals, Zoom presentations and interviews, and site visits; and ending with in-person presentations and interviews with the two finalists at the fall board meeting, we are confident that Celtic is not only an outstanding association management firm, but they are also the right fit for ACE, to help us grow and succeed in the future.

Celtic is a full-service firm with more than 25 years of experience providing association management, meeting and conference planning, and marketing services. Deb Ryan will serve as our executive director and lead a team of four other Celtic staffers, including Celtic President Marlene Byrne, in providing services to ACE, our members, and our volunteer leaders. For special needs or projects, we will be able to draw on the expertise of more than 20 other specialists on Celtic’s staff.

Our transition to management under Celtic will begin in July 2018 and will be complete by the end of August.

I am excited for you all to get to know Deb and the Celtic crew. They combine a practical, concrete approach and a careful attention to detail with warm, down-to-earth friendliness and enthusiasm for ACE. I know you will enjoy working with them.

Elizabeth Gregory North
, ACE President-Elect

Make Plans to Be at Joint ACE-Ag Media Summit

Tired of cold, snowy weather? Time to dream of warmer weather and exciting learning opportunities at the joint ACE-Ag Media Summit. Slated for August 4 through 8 at the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, the conference will offer wide ranging professional development sessions.

In addition, you will have the chance to build relationships with ag media professionals—people who can help you tell your institution’s stories. With the addition of ACE, more than 600 media and communications professionals are expected to attend. The nation’s top agriculture writers, editors, photographers and publishers will all be there.

It’s full-speed ahead now as sessions are being finalized. The program committee is hard at work lining up speakers sure to grab your attention for both breakout sessions and the Gary Hermance Speaker.

Additionally, the program committee hopes to offer a three hour, post-conference workshop on diversity. Look for a short three to five question survey in your email box this week. Take a moment and provide your thoughts and preferences.

See you in Scottsdale!

It’s going to be hot!

Fair warning: Scottsdale is located in the Valley of the Sun, which is in the desert. There is air conditioning everywhere, though. And a lot of outside areas are “misted” with water that somehow make it seem cooler. Even in the summer, the area is busy.

There are many attractions to visit inside and outside of the valley during the Ag Media Summit:

For those who like to eat, there are 2,613 restaurants to choose from and this has the 10 best, according to an Arizona Republic food critic.

  • For baseball fans, the Diamondbacks are in town for the entire time. And the stadium as a roof.
  • For music lovers, the Musical Instruments Museum is one of the newer museums in the area.
  • For museum goers, there’s the Penske Racing Museum, the Heard Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona Historical Museum and the Arizona Mining & Mineral Museum, among others.

  • For succulent lovers, the Desert Botanical Garden is a popular stop.
  • For sightseers and those who want to extend their stay, the Grand Canyon is always in fashion, but other picturesque areas include Lake Powell, Sedona, and Prescott.

Your ACE Dues Keeps the Organization Running

For many of you, December was the anniversary of your annual membership in ACE.  Due to the hectic nature of the month, paying your annual dues may have been pushed into January to coincide with posting entries into the ACE Critique and Award contest.  However, if you have not already paid your annual renewal­- and need to do so- please consider doing that soon.

Annual dues support the services that ACE provides including the salary for our executive director and website services. Renewing your membership keeps you on the list-serves that connect you to colleagues across the country. Dues help support the Journal of Applied Communication and ensure that you can submit articles to it. Paying dues also means that you continue to receive communications from ACE such as the newsletter and event emails.

The ACE board works hard to keep expenses for the organization low, so members can receive the most bang for their buck. You can renew annual memberships at here under “Join or Renew.”

Beth Forbes, ACE Membership Director


Development Fund Grants Awarded

Congratulations to ACE members selected to receive Development Fund grants.

Lori Greiner, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Erin Yates, University of Georgia Extension, and Tanya Engel, Communications and Technology, University of Wyoming Extension will explore digital publishing solutions for Cooperative Extension publications. The group will survey colleagues nationwide to identify tools to streamline workflow, meet accessibility requirements and help non graphic designers produce branded publications.

Mike Whitesides, Utah State University, plans to sharpen his webinar skills with an in-depth course that addresses how to effectively plan webinars, boost registration and attendance, increase engagement and interaction, and set up, promote and use webinar replays, among other topics. His goal is to help ACE members learn how to deliver the Best Webinars Ever!

Watch for more on these projects.

Donna Sheffield
, Development Officer

Upcoming Webinars

How to Salvage “Bad Photos" With Photoshop
February 14 at 4:00pm Eastern / 3:00pm Central / 1:00pm Pacific

Presenter: Victor Villegas

Link: http://oregonstate.adobeconnect.com/ryv4wr91ohj4/

Using the Photoshop Healing Brush & Cloning Stamp to Improve Photos

Find out how to use the healing brush and clone stamp in Photoshop to fix photographs and remove unwanted artifacts and objects.


February 21 at 4:00pm Eastern / 3:00pm Central / 1:00pm Pacific

Presenter: Victor Villegas

Link: http://oregonstate.adobeconnect.com/rqvqhg4q7h1s/

Congratulations to ACE Member Jason Ellis

Long-time ACE member Jason Ellis is the new head of the Department of Communications and Agricultural Education at Kansas State University. He is the third person to fill this role, following Bob Furbee and Kristina Boone. Ellis earned his bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University in 1998, with a dual major in agricultural communication and animal sciences and industry. He returned to school and earned his master’s degree in meat science in 2003 and doctorate in agricultural education and studies in 2006, both from Iowa State University. He served as an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for five years before returning in 2011 to Kansas State University as an assistant professor and then associate professor. Congratulations, Jason!
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